Back in September I blogged about Podcasters Across Borders (PAB) 2008. I wanted to go but let the opportunity pass. After listening to the 2008 sessions I vowed I would go in 2009. With all the economic uncertainty I'm back to thinking very hard about it, though still more for than against.

It's hard to find a conference dedicated to podcasting, especially in Canada. The best I've been able to find on the left coast are occasional presentations at venues like Northern Voice or Net Squared Tuesday. Back East, there's Podcasters Across Borders. I wanted to go this year, but couldn't justify the travel costs (and I think I made a mistake).

But there's good news, the presentations were taped and posted online:

Anyone that listens to the Canadian Podcast Buffet knows there's a strong podcasting community back East. The conference podcasts certainly can't reproduce the face-to-face goodness that conference goers experienced. But, as the saying goes, they're the next best thing and well worth a listen in their own right.

If you have any interest in podcasting I strongly recommend checking them out.

The Samson Zoom H2 digital recorder allows 2 channel recording from external sources but uses a consumer 1/8" stereo jack for input. Even though it has those independent channels the standard microphone cabling options only allow for connection of a single device. It makes one envious of those Zoom H4 owners and their two individual input jacks. Fortunately there's a simple non-standard cable option for dual mono channel recording!

Alleged stereo/mono adaptor. Didn't work.

This is purely an electrical problem, we need a cable or adaptor that splits the 1/8" stereo jack's connections into 2 - 1/8" mono jacks. Those of you comfortable with a soldering iron could put together a cable like this in 15 minutes. It's been around 15 years since I've done any component soldering so I opted for a purchased solution.

A stereo to dual-mono adaptor seems like a no-brainer, but be careful. I thought I'd found one fitting the description at a local electronics supply store, but in spite of the correct textual description the adaptor wasn't wired the way I though it was (They really need to include schematic diagrams).

My solution was slightly different. Using a stereo 1/8" plug to dual RCA connector cable as a starting point I knew I had the left and right audio channels properly separated. To complete the cable all I needed was RCA to 1/8" jack adaptors. An additional advantage of this cable over an adaptor plug is the cable doesn't stick out as far from the side.

This cable is field tested and works like a charm with my Zoom H2. I've recorded "two microphone" interviews with great results.

A company named celtx has released version 1.0 of their free (and open source) scriptwriting software of the same name. The website is a little plain-jane, go to the Features Tour page for videos of what the software can do.

I've downloaded and played around with it a little bit. They've included a couple of samples projects so you have some real stuff to check it out with. Looking good so far!

It supports the following formats:

Screenplay

Stage Play (international and US standard)

AV scripts (documentaries, music videos and advertising)

Audio Play (radio plays and podcasts)

Comic Book

Plain Text

But it's more than just formatting, it also does story boarding, tracks characters and does scene breakdowns. A full set of features listed here: http://www.celtx.com/features.html

Although Celtx isn't overtly intended for book writing some of the tools look like they could be useful for book authors. If you've ever wished for tracking tools it might be worth checking out. The caveat is your working style needs to match the celtx workflow .

celtx also has online publishing and collaboration services, which where they make their money. One of the more intriguing services is the ability to view a project via an iPhone.

I'm looking forward to trying some real work on a podcast project to see if there's some substance to the flash.

Don't let the "Marketing" in the title throw you off. The advice covers getting listeners. Period. For example, "Can you find your podcast easily". Seemingly obvious, but it's easily forgetten in the myriad of details. And for the people who seriously want to build audience or meet tangible goals, there's a couple of tips on how to start. It's a quick read, so also makes a decent checklist for those wanting to review their setup.

Derek Miller at Inside Home Recording has a great video piece on how he produces his wife's podcast: IHR TV #3 - Podcast Audio Production. It's specific to the equipment he uses, not a general tutorial, but this provides a focus and conciseness I like. As long as you can extrapolate how to mix and match you'll be able to adapt the technique just fine.

A team of volunteers (volunteers and organizers were designated with happy faces on their badges ... We few, we happy few, we band of brothers) lead by yours truly recorded the conference and we now have around 32 hours of audio and video to process! Barring unforeseen circumstances they'll be coming to a podcast near you very soon.

The only downside to the conference was getting up so early in the morning to get there! I've never exactly been a morning person, and working from home has taken me out of the early morning habit. It's not that late and my brain is shutting down. I've been sitting here for the last thirty or minutes trying to put together some coherent thoughts about the conference and failing miserably. So I'm going to point you to the much superior live blogging of the keynotes from Vancouver's Miss 604, Rebecca Bolwitt, in her mild mannered work disguise: